After Hours, and Other Short Stories
by Light Through The Veins
Summary: A collection of oneshots and other short stories written that do not fall under any other ongoing project. Shot Three: Snow. Benson walks. Benson thinks.
1. After Hours

**A/N**: Unfortunately, I was not able to give myself enough time this week to finish the next installment of Sunday. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. In exchange, here's a oneshot that I wrote a week or so again which I think gives off a similar vibe to Sunday. I never released it to because I did not think it was up to par with my other works, but after much consideration, I thought I'd let the viewers decide for themselves. Enjoy this short little oneshot, and thank you.

* * *

"Thanks for helping me clean up, Mordecai!"

"Uh, yeah… no problem."

The pale brown coffee shop was barren, not a customer in sight. The worn down clock hung on the wall near the entrance to the diner showed that the time was half past eleven at night; the pitch blackness that absorbed the normally present view out the window to the gargantuan park across the street only reassured that. The stars were few and far between, with smog and pollution concealing the moon and nighttime sky from any normal person's gaze.

"You sure your boss will be okay with you being out this late?"

"Who, Benson?"

Had one spilled coffee earlier in the day over one of the counters, none would be able to tell it was so, as the tables had been cleaned down and were shining reflectively with no trace of wear or grime visible on the surface. Cups left over from some of the slobs called customers had been picked up and thrown away, the garbage bags nicely tied up and placed in the dumpsters in the alleyway outside the shop. The trash cans inside had been neatly lined and replaced, awaiting the barrage of rubbish sure to come the following day.

The sound of a wet towel being slung over a bucket echoed inside the eatery, breaking the silence. The place was clean. The mop was being stored in a closet near the double doors to the kitchen in the back, which was normally only used during extreme rushes of customers. Most of the time, a few customers would come in an hour, ask for a cup of coffee or tea, and be on their merry way.

"Yeah."

"Well, he might get a bit pissed off… but I don't mind it. He's like that all the time."

Throughout this whole ordeal, the blue jay accompanying the robin on her nightly clean-up routine was trying to hide his blushing cheeks, as well as the fact that he was completely infatuated with the one working next to him. He hoped she didn't notice; that was the last thing he wanted. He tried to keep his legs from shaking as he helped flip the chairs and stools over on top of each table.

"But I don't think my curfew is what irks him the most," the bird known as Mordecai continued, trying to keep his mind off his thoughts of asking her out right there and then on the spot. She was always running around with some guy or another; a new boyfriend every week, it seemed. He was sure this time was no different. "Rigby's always the one causing trouble late at night." She giggled. He smiled. He liked it when she giggled. It meant he was doing something right. "I mean, during the day, I like going all-out as much as he does." He stifled a yawn as he picked up the bucket with the towel in it and began to move it into the closet. "But at night, I calm down and tire out. Sorta like a different person. Rigby?" He chuckled as he stowed the bucket away. "That dude's nonstop energy."

"I believe you," the robin said as she closed the closet door and locked it.

"I mean," Mordecai said, leaning on the wall and crossing his talon-like feet, trying to act as suave as he could imagine, "he's fun to be around, but at times he can get to be a little bit much." She giggled again.

"Reminds me of my friends."

"Really?" He asked, leaning further, as if thinking that the farther he leaned, the cooler he looked. She nodded.

"They're always out partying 'til the break of dawn," she said, turning and looking out the window at the nothingness outside, leaning her back against the wall. "They always ask me to come with. I usually can't; this job kills my social life." She turned back at Mordecai. "You know what I mean?" He let his eyes slightly close as he looked dreamily at her.

"Yeah, I to-OOF!" He had leaned too far, and slipped on the still wet floor from having been mopped earlier in the evening. With a dull thud, he landed on the ground on his side, an embarrassed mess. He blushed hotly as the other stifled yet another laugh, reaching out a feathered wing for the fallen one to grab onto. He took it, and hoisted himself up from the ground, still red in the face. "…Sorry about that…" He muttered, looking down, his wing behind his head, scratching. She just smiled at him. There it was again; the smile that drove him crazy, and made him feel as if all the most powerful emotions in the world had been combined into one gigantic ball of passion and placed in his stomach. It drove him mad. It made him insane. He groaned, walking over to the windows, taking one of the stacked chairs with him. He sat down in front of the window, his face buried in his wings, wishing the whole world would disappear.

"Mordecai…" The voice behind him said, placing a gentle grip on his shoulders, "if you need to tell me… anything, just say it."

"I…"

For a brief moment, Mordecai opened his eyes with an intensity and flare unmatched by any other. He saw his opportunity; this was it. The moment he had been waiting for ever since he had laid eyes on the creature standing behind him. He could tell her about how he wanted to go out with her; how he was madly in love, and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, until death would part them. He saw them, in that flicker of an instant, laughing and resting on a wooden bench in the park while their children, young and spirited, were running along the grass in front of them. How he wanted it!

The vision and hopes died the second it passed. His eyes died down again, and he let his head rise from its resting place. "I…" He whispered, feeling a tremendous weight still lingering on his shoulders, and at the same time, something trying to close his beak and keep him from spilling his desires. "…I've got to go." He jolted up from the seat and walked briskly toward the door, flung it open in one fluid moment, and exited into the darkness. The robin simply watched in stunned amazement as she saw the blue jay leave.

It had begun to rain.


	2. We Laugh Indoors

**A/N:** I wrote this short oneshot for /co/ right after watching the episode "Mordecai and the Rigbys". I've been wanting to see some character development for Margaret for awhile, but this episode has only proved to me that her purpose for the show is to be used as a running gag. After some contemplation, I wrote this little story. Enjoy.

Written: November 22nd, 2010. Word Count: 1371. Genre: Drama. Title: We Laugh Indoors

* * *

He was fed up.

He couldn't take it for another day of his life. The miserable existence he had chosen to live was tearing the very fiber of his being completely apart; and it was due to that one person who tormented his dreams, his nightmares… all because he lacked the courage to step up and ask her out on a simple date - a movie, dinner, whatever it could've been. But in his eyes, it wasn't all his fault.

For every time he wanted to work up the guts to ask her, to approach her… she'd be with someone else. And he felt like she was dangling him on a rope, as if he was her own little plaything, and that his torture and pain was her amusement. Why did he let such agony rage inside of him when he could have easily set it to rest by simply setting the record straight? He didn't want to be embarrassed; he knew that if he asked her out when her boyfriend was standing right by them, he would become a laughingstock. He lived in fear for so long.

But it was time to take a stand.

Time to make the pain end.

* * *

The Coffee Shop was full of people. The place was bustling heavier than during Sunday brunch. It would seem that an event or party was going on at the moment. However, since it was much later in the night than it had been when the ceremony had begun, the amount of patrons were beginning to dwindle. A few guests, though, important to this point which would soon unfold, still remained.

"Margaret!"

The tone was not a friendly call of the name, as it had so often been. She turned to find the blue jay marching toward her with a determined yet anxious look on his face. She smiled at the sight of her good friend, yet was a bit confused as to why he was acting the way she saw him. "Mordecai!" She called back cheerily. "I thought you and Rigby had gone home."

"Rigby's on his way back," he replied, arms crossed as he stopped directly in front of her. "I told him I'd catch up later." Margaret nodded understandingly as she nudged a young human male near her. He turned and faced the two birds.

"Mordecai, have you met my new boyfriend, Ja-"

"Yeah, we've met," he said, cutting her off. "Look, can I talk to you?"

"Sure, Mordecai. Of course you can." The two looked at each other for awhile, with the robin wearing an expectant look. The human male went back to talking with others, having grown bored of the exchange.

"…In private?" Margaret nodded after several moments passed, and they disappeared from the shrinking crowd.

* * *

They stepped out into the cold open air that the nighttime winter brought along. They shivered as the icy touch hit their feathers. "Okay," Margaret said, her breath visible. "What did you want to talk about?" Mordecai rubbed his arms, trying to warm up. He was going to stay calm, cool, and collected. He was going to tell her what was on his mind, and why he was about to do one of the most drastic things he'd ever done in his life. He took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. "Well?" He opened his mouth to speak.

Nothing came out. It was as if some unknown force had taken his voice away from him, not willing him to make the step he was about to take. _'No!'_ He thought. _'I have to do this! I have to tell her!'_ He took another breath and made another attempt to talk as Margaret looked at him in confusion. "I… I…" He shook his head, bringing his feathered wings up and smacking it. _'Come on!'_ He let out a loud groan of frustration. "Why is it so hard for me to talk to you?" He cried out. Instantly, his wings covered his beak, and he started walking several steps away, not believing what he had just said.

"Mordecai?" The voice from behind him asked. "Are you okay?"

'_No, I'm not okay, dammit,'_ he thought. _'And if you really cared, you'd know that.'_ "Why do you always lead me on, huh?" He asked, finally standing up tall and turning around, facing the red-breasted robin.

She was taken aback, flabbergasted. She could only look onward as the blue jay made his query. "Wh… what?"

"You heard me!" He replied aggressively, walking forward. He began to grit his teeth. The other took several steps back, afraid of what her friend was becoming. "Why do you do this to me?"

"What are you talking about, Mordecai?" She asked, desperately.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" He exclaimed, looking down into her eyes furiously. She shook her head in despair.

"I don't!" Her eyes had begun to well up with tears, as she was fearing what could possibly happen next with the unstable bird in front of her. "But please, tell me. I… I want to help!" Silence consumed the two for several seconds, as Mordecai pondered this. After the moment had passed, he backed off, looking at her blankly.

"No." One word. One word that gave Mordecai a sense of achievement. One word that sent the other's mind spiraling into the ground. "No," he repeated. "You don't. You don't care about me. You've never cared." She began to break down. Mordecai remained stoic. "But I wanted you to. I wanted you to know. To care. But I've given up. I'm through."

"But Mordecai…" At this point, she was looking frantically at the one in front of her, trying to find some remaining essence of the bird she had known. She gave up when the blue jay continued to give her that blank stare. "What… what's wrong with you?" She asked, bringing her wing up to her beak, terrified at what was happening to her outside her workplace. The other laughed an empty cackle, and this frightened her even more, her feathers standing on end.

"_Me?_ What's wrong with _me?_" He smiled without any happiness or malevolence behind him. "_Me?_ Are you serious? Dude; you're the one who's been tearing my life inside out, and … and you're telling _me_ that _I've _changed?"

"What did I do?" Margaret asked, still feeling as trapped as ever. "How have I ruined your life?"

_I loved you, Margaret, I loved you, Margaret, I loved you-_

Mordecai returned to his soulless gaze. He looked at Margaret, trying to find an answer. She looked at him, wanting to know what she had done wrong. They were on completely different wavelengths, unable to become compatible. He came to a realization. "You don't know," he whispered, slowly raising his shaking right wing, pointing an accusing finger at the robin.

_And I've always fallen fast with too much trust-_

"…What?" She asked, trembling slightly, moreso out of emotional anxiety than the deathly cold that had begun to numb both of their bodies. He kept his wing still.

"You don't know," he repeated. His voice echoed hollowly with a mixture of fear and understanding. "You never knew." He regained his confidence, his tone becoming stern once more.

"Mordecai, you're scaring me, please."

"Don't get me started now," he said, pointing his wing at her once more. "Not again. Don't… don't get me…" He trailed off, but did not lose his nerve. He kept eye contact with the robin for an eternity, as time stood still. They were confused. They were afraid. One showed it. The other hid. Time resumed as snow began to fall on their still bodies. It coated the streets and the sidewalks; the buildings and the trees. He turned and walked away.

He wanted to feel happy and accomplished. He wanted to see himself as if he had just climbed to the top of an unconquerable mountain, on top of the world and invincible. He wanted to be able to convince himself that this would be the start of a new day, a new him; and that tomorrow, he would wake up, and his life would be completely renewed. He wanted.

He was hollow. He was alone.


	3. Snow

**A/N:** Just Benson walking and thinking. That's pretty much it. But it's the little things in life, you know?

Written: December 10th, 2010. Word Count: 607. Genre: General. Title: Snow

* * *

Benson walked along the side of the pond, looking outward across the frozen body of water. The snow was falling ever so lightly, and a thin blanket of white was beginning to cover the soft ground beneath his metallic feet. He took a long, heavy drag of the cigarette in his hand. As he did so, he stopped walking, taking a moment to gaze at the landscape before him. He didn't smoke often, and he hadn't experimented with any illegal substances since his earlier days, but every now and then, when times would get too difficult to handle with simply him alone, he could use a cigarette. Now was one of those times.

He continued to stare out across the water, noticing each individual speck of snow fall from the sky above, the cigarette staying still in his mouth. He inhaled deeply and exhaled, taking the object from his mouth and letting the smoke out from his mouth, releasing it into the nighttime sky. It traveled upwards, and he watched it go, his eyes making contact with the stars above and the moon, full in all its splendor. He grunted at the sight, and continued to walk along the side of the frozen pond.

He hated his life. He hated the senile old man who he worked under, and how he was of absolutely no help during the most crucial points of operating at the park. He hated the yeti who occasionally helped them out, and the fact that he was so mysterious with his lifestyle only made him hate the creature more. He hated the park where he meandered daily; its green grass, tall trees, and never-ending lawns. He hated hated hated it.

But there was one above all others.

Most of all, he hated the two morons who he trusted day in and day out to at least do one thing, one simple task correctly… and how they would fail every single goddamn time. They couldn't be trusted. They couldn't even be called employees. He hated it. He hated it all.

He shivered as a cool breeze floated by. He wrapped his arms around his body while the old, patched scarf around his neck wavered slightly in the wind. He took another drag of his cigarette as the breeze ceased. He sighed, wondering what the hell he was doing with his life; why he had decided to spend the entirety of his life as a groundskeeper.

He shrugged it off and walked on. Truthfully, he didn't care that his life was a living hell, day in and day out. He didn't mind that he had to put up with the two most insufferable people on the planet he lived on. He knew it was all part of some greater plan, and that enough was reason for him to ignore his own problems and simply go with the flow.

Besides, he could always bust the slackers for doing a poor job. He knew he'd never fire them; he couldn't. But damn if sometimes he really wanted to.

He realized he had reached the end of the pond, and in the distance, he could see the lights of a home, located in the middle of the park. He looked at it blankly. Sure, life sucked from time to time for him. But he thought to himself that it surely couldn't be that bad, and besides; they'd had some great adventures, hadn't they? Yeah. And there were sure to be even more in the days, months, and even possibly years to come. But until then, he was content.

He felt home.

And the snow continued to rain down.


End file.
